A voyage past Dancing Beggars

This was a journey from Dartmouth down to Torcross, a voyage of about seven nautical miles.

The plan was to leave Dartmouth on an ebb tide and catch the start of the tide going down Start Bay, a simple voyage. I set off at midday to catch the tide out of the harbour.

There was low cloud and slight drizzle when I started, but the weather started to clear. Although there was low light for photography, the weather effects made Dartmouth more atmospheric.

The colours and tones blended in a way that made everything seem like an impressionist painting.

I looked up at the Britannia Royal Naval College where my uncle had trained, starting aged 13 years.  His first action was four years later, when at dawn on D-Day, his ship, the H M S Warspite bombarded enemy gun emplacements from eight miles offshore. He was attacked by E Boats, before forcing a retreat. His ship wore out their 15 inch guns and went back to Portsmouth. (see: http://stevespages.org.uk/pgm-greig/warspite.html)

As I exited, there were some yachts coming in, with the crews trussed up in their sailing gear, having been voyaging in the rain.

The lack of wind and stillness, meant their conversation carried over the sound of their engines and I heard one person talking about PicoMicroYacht, saying ‘… and it has a radar reflector on the top of it’s mast …’

At the mouth of the Dart Estuary I went along the southern side of the channel. 

The Kingwear Castle arrived, this ship being the last remaining operational coal fired paddle steamer in the UK.

It headed straight for me and I wondered what evasive action I should take, if any.

It then became clear it was turning and having to create the widest arc to go around smoothly.

Further down the coast was a reef with a series of rocks called the Combe Rocks. Because of the calmness of the sea I decided to go between the Dancing Beggar and Combe Rocks rocks, gingerly moving forwards, also sticking to a path made by lobster pot buoys. The Dancing Beggar rocks were to starboard.

Looking back towards Dartmouth I could see the rocks and also Mew Stone rock in the far distance. I was wondering whether low clouds would decend and create a fog.

Soon I was closing in on Torcross, with Start Point in the distance, the sea now silky smooth.

When I arrived, the tide was out but the small stoned shingle beach made it easier to drag PicoMicroYacht upwards.

To make it easier I emptied the PicoMicrYacht of all gear, including the rowing system, which is easily detachable.  This reduced the weight to bare hull 60 kilograms.

I then rigged a bridle attached to bow and used a towing technique. I walk two metres up the beach, faced PicoMicroYacht, and slipped the bridle over my lower back. I then leant backwards. The weight of my body provided enough force to slide PicoMicroYacht forwards for a few inches, at which point I adjusted my legs and repeated the process.

PicoMicroyacht inched up the beach with comparatively little effort. As the beach got steeper, I slalomed up it to reduce the angle. 

Because PicoMicroYacht moves so slowly, quite often people see what I am doing and offer to help anyway.

I took a photograph of my radar reflector, which is set up so I can attach a navigation light on top.

Voyage details:

Plymouth high tide: 7.50 am

Tide: Springs

Left Dartmouth: Midday

Arrived Torcross: 3.30 pm

High tide Plymouth on 19 06 19 was 7.50. Set off at 12.00 midday when the tide turned south down Start Bay (four hours after high tide Plymouth)

Slapton Sands to Salcombe

The plan was to launch PicoMicroYacht off Slapton Sands and row round to Salcombe.

Path of PicoMicroYacht from Slapton Sands to Salcombe

The voyage required some careful planning because I needed to time it so that when I got to Start Point it would be slack water and I would avoid a race on this headland.

Although it was nearly neaps, a residual swell coming in from the west would have made it very bumpy.

Also, a main difficulty for the voyage would be going against a force three to four West-South-West wind. As well as making it harder work, the wind against tide would tend to ruffle up the waves.

I realised that if I left an hour and a half just before approximate slack water at Start Point, there would be a back eddy that would help me on my way southwards.

In the middle of the chart is shown the back eddy down Start Bay, ending at Start Point

Slack tide or thereabouts at Start Point, three hours after high tide at Plymouth: The more detailed map on the right bottom shows a slight eddy already going south and west just off Start Point.

An hour later the tide gets going towards the Prawle Point

The main English Channel tide would be in my favour all the way to Salcombe.

After reaching Start Point, I needed to take my time so as not to arrive too early in Salcombe, avoiding the strong ebb tide coming out of the harbour.

It was three days after the 75th D-Day Anniversary. The Slapton Sands had featured prominently before the D-Day Landings because of being used as an invasion practice beach.  

A Sherman tank, placed there now as a memorial, was decked by wreaths commemorating I think not the actual landings but deaths that occurred during practice.

PicoMicroYacht was rigged and slid down the beach, ready to launch.

I then waited for smaller waves before launching, then giving PicoMicroYacht a vigorous push and leaping onto it just as it entered the water. It was just before 12 O’Clock, mid-day.

Along Start Bay are the coastal villages Beesands and Hallsands. The latter was washed away in storms in 1917, the protective shingle beach having been dredged to help build a naval dockyard in Plymouth.

Beesands and houses behind the sea wall

Hallsands, with the ledge to the left where the village was washed away in storms.

Soon I was at Start Point at exactly slack tide.

Start Point sticks out in a C shape, with Froweder Cove in the middle of the C. I rounded the top half of the C about five metres off the rocks and then went between the bottom half of the C and the Black Stone rock.

Ordinary it is advised not to do this inner passage without local knowledge. I realise why when I saw to my right a large round yellowish patch in the water the size of a small trampoline.

At first, I thought it was a mass of weed, but then I saw it was a rock I had narrowly missed going over.

The  position of the rock PicoMicroYacht narrowly missed passing over just off Start Point

One of the potmarkers close in off Start Point, the submerged rock about five metres behind.

In addition to this rock there was a network of potmarker buoys ready to catch the unwary engine powered boat, tangling their propellors with their underwater lines.

After rounding Start Point, the sea increased, and it was slow going. As PicoMicroYacht neared Prawle Point, the land protection had gone, being at the most southerly point of South Devon.

Large rolling waves came in from the West and I began to feel slightly seasick.

At this point a succession of yachts passed me, two of which altered course to go close and check whether I was alright. A motorboat also came along side and asked me where I was going, having trouble hearing me over the noise of his engine.

Yachts passing close to me. By this time the wind was lessening.

Opposite Prawle Point the sea was more disturbed as the westerly going tide accelerated against the waves. However, the wind was dropping.

I did a radio check to the Coastwatch at Prawle, using Channel 65, mainly to let them know I was alright, since they would have been monitoring me.

The sea started to calm and the entrance to Salcombe was a welcome sight.  I was able to row with less effort against the lessening wind, which was by then more on my beam.

Closing in on Salcombe

It was now just after 5 pm and I half drifted up the estuary to Whitestrand Quay. On the way, I was overtaken by the South Sands ferry.

The slow speed of the voyage (average about 2 knots) was accounted for by the head wind and the ruffled sea.

Voyage Planning:

11^th June 2019

High Water Plymouth: 11.00

Neaps at 13^th June 2019

Start Torcross at 12.40 (southern going eddy down Start Bay)

Arrive Start Point at 14.10 (slack water): Distance 2.8 NM

Arrive Prawle Point at 15.40 (westerly going tide): Distance 3.6 NM

Arrive Salcombe Entrance at 17.00 (westerly going tide; just before low water, Salcombe): Distance 2.4 NM

Total Distance: 8.8 NM
          
Mean Speed: Approximately 2 knots

Hastings to Eastbourne and an imaginary armada

This voyage was a pleasant short trip along the South Coast of England, with no dramatic headlands or races to avoid. The start was St Leonards-on-Sea, just west of Hasting, and the finish was Eastbourne

The white line is the route taken by PicoMicroYacht

I launched off a pebble beach, which was steep as it met the sea. Waves were breaking quite sharply, with a distinct undertow. I waited for the larger waves to finish and then pushed PicoMicroYacht quickly into the sea so as not to get tangled up with the breaking waves.

I tried to leap aboard at the last minute, but my timing was wrong, and I ended up in the water.  I hauled myself over the side, grabbed an oar and paddled away quickly.

Looking back, I saw the Royal Victoria Hotel, built originally in the Georgian era, subsequently made famous by the visits of Queen Victoria, when St Leonards-on-Sea was a fashionable resort for the rich.

Although the weather was settled and calm, mists blocked the sunlight and gave the coast a somewhat mysterious air.

I began to imagine the approximately 700 ships that arrived on this coast when William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, picturing a huge armada of Viking like boats appearing out of the mist. I found out later the boats were beached on arrival, and a garrison established to guard them whilst the army went onwards.

The tide started to flow west, aa I could see this from the various buoys I passed.

It did not seem so long before PicoMicroYacht was at Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour, where boats were going in and out.

This included a Canadian cat rigged yacht, who sailed across to chat to me and ask whether I was going around the UK.

A brightly coloured fishing boat steamed past in a hurry, lit by the sun as the mists started to disperse.

In the distance was Eastbourne with the Pier and behind it the distinctive Beachy Head cliffs, where the South Downs meets the sea. The dreamy misty look was worthy of an impressionist painting.

As I got closer to my destination, the mists were clearing and a bright blue sky was pushing through. An outer reef helped break the waves slightly, so it was an easy landing on the beach.

The tide was fully out now, and it took a long time to drag PicoMicroYacht up the beach to the sailing club.

PicoMicroYacht celebrates Morris K Morris after nearly 96 years

Mostly I row in PicoMicroYacht, but last Friday I had the privilege of visiting London Rowing Club at Putney for a rowing eight outing. The scratch crew consisted of four members of my extended family, with other oarsmen from London Rowing club completing the crew.

The purpose was to commemorate Morris K ‘Geoff’ Morris, a relative who won the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta nearly 96 years years ago, and whose photograph was being unveiled in the club house.

The rowing journalist Tim Koch had organised the event and brought together the Morris family either to row or to watch.

Timothy Koch in the foreground, who coxed the scratch Morris and London Rowing club eight

Morris K Morris won the Diamond Challenge Sculls in sweltering heat, unexpectedly beating off the competition in only his fourth formal racing event. He was so tired at the final finish that he fell in and had to be rescued.

Morris K Morris goes on to win the final of the Diamond Challenge event, beating D H L Gollan

The newpaper account of MK Morris being rescued

In our scratch rowing eight, three Morris’s combined with Jeremy Fisher Smith, whose father was a step son of MK Morris. 

The Morris/ London Rowing Club scratch rowing eight. Jeremy Fisher Smith is number two, Robin Morris number three, Ed Morris number four and Sean Morris, the veteran rowing champion, is number seven.

Together, we found that we could still row roughly in time with sweep oars and sliding seats, with only one slight crab occurring in an hour’s rowing despite a lively breeze and messy water. After the row we went to the club for the unveilling of the photograph. The average age of the crew was nearing 70 years old.

The photograph being unveilled

The Fisher Smith website, with a photograph of a rowing skiff built by Jeremy; note the diamond shape used in the insignia design, a nod towards MK Morris winning the Diamond Challenge event.

It was my first meeting with Jeremy who is an expert boat builder, who crafts superb classic wooden boats as well as running a boatyard near San Francisco. It was a privilege to meet Jeremy and chat about all things boating, including the fun we both have sea adventuring in small open boats.

It was two days before the Oxford and Cambridge boat race and we shared the club with the Cambridge men’s boat crew, discretely ignoring them so as not to interfere with their coaching.

This made it more special when today Cambridge won the boat race, their number two oarsman being James Cracknell, the oldest person to row in the boat race by 10 years and following recovery from a serious brain injury.

Cambridge win by a length in a tight race

Breaking a rule at the English Riviera and seeing a dolphin

Whilst the South Coast of England will never be as glamorous as the French Riviera, the  area of Devon that encompasses Torquay, Paignton and Brixham makes a good attempt.

These three towns are clustered around Tor Bay, well protected from the prevailing westerly winds and  the swell that comes from the Atlantic Ocean.

I was to cross Tor Bay, a voyage of about 4.5 miles, and then row along the rugged coast between Brixham and Dartmouth.

The voyage taken by PicoMicroYacht. The English Riviera is defined by the green line

I had chosen a day when there was a full spring tide, going against my usual rule to row at neaps. However, the wind was forecast to be Force 1-2 from the west, and the sea state was reportedly smooth or slight. Also I was capitalising on being shielded by the South Devon land mass, Tor Bay facing east.

As I set off a Sadler 26 was cleaning their copper coated bottom on the main Torquay slipway. The owner had chatted to me as his helper worked on the boat and explained he knew about PicoMicroYacht, having sailed the Devon coast in a 17 foot open boat.

I set off and found it seemed to be slow going crossing Torbay, despite the forecast, as a light headwind got up from an unpredicted direction and the tide had not yet turned in my favour.

Passing Brixham, this all changed and the wind disappeared, with the tide now sizzling past the coast and setting up areas of sea turbulance around the exposed headlands, but not enough to worry PicoMicroYacht. 

As I looked to the side I saw some lobster pot buoys submerged in the water, as the tide tugged on them. A dolpin showed up but was too fleeting to be photographed.

Nearing Dartmouth the sea was near glassy calm.  Start Point is shown in the distance.

Behind was the Mew Stone, a large jagged rock typical of the Devon coast

Soon I was just outside Dartmouth and eating lunch whilst I waited for the tide to start flooding up the Dartmouth Estuary.

The Darthaven Marina were most welcoming and allowed me to keep PicoMicroYacht on their pontoons for a while as I sorted myself out.

When would PicoMicroYacht Capsize?

When doing sea rowing I have adopted three rules about the sea that I try to follow in order to allow going on voyage. Generally, it should be neap tides, so reducing the tidal rate and therefore the likelihood of a confused or breaking sea, particularly past headlands. Secondly, there should be little or no wind. This rule tends to ensure the sea is calmer, but it also means the boat is generally manoevrable in different directions. Finally, the sea shoud be calm, with little or no swell.

Sea state defined in terms of wave height

For sea calmness, I listen out for shipping forecasts that indicate that the sea is ''smooth' or 'slight.'

I had become curious as to what makes it 'slight' and how this was judged. So I checked the criteria and found that there was also calm (glassy and rippled), with below 0.1 metre wave height, and then  'smooth'  was  between 0.1 and 0.5 metres, and slight was 0.5 to 1.25 metres.

I realised that that the online coastal wind forecasts had predictions of wave heights and by chance I had been  using a 'less than one metre' rule as well, which I now realised matched approximately the 1.25 metre limit for 'slight.'

An example is the forecast for next week in the sea area of my next voyage, given below. The wave height is along the last but bottom row and shows a convenient 0.5 to 0.6 metre range, well within my limits.

Windfinder predictions for Torbay, Devon, UK

For me, the reason to have a calm sea in PicoMicroYacht is to prevent capsize. There are generally two causes of capsize; either the wind pushes on the sails to turn the boat over, or the boat gets hit by a higher than expected breaking wave, washing against it with such force that it knocks it over. It is the possibility of the latter that concerns me.

The sort of wave height ranges that I row in are well below causing other problems, such as sea sickness.

But what wave height would cause PicoMicroYacht to capsize and is my approximate one  metre  rule reasonable?

I found out about a study by the University of Southamptom Department of Ship Science. This study indicates that a boat will tend to roll over if the wave hits you on the beam, the wave is breaking and the wave height is 30% of the hull length.

Applying this to PicoMicroYacht, this meant the waves should not be more that 1.14 metres, to avoid the 30% threshold.

However, whether a capsize will take place is of course more complicated. The criteria assume the waves will break and this depends in turn on other sea conditions, including shallowing water and races. Generally, for the sea to break on shallow water at the sort of wave height range I would encounter means I would be nearly aground, such as on a sandbank or beach. More of a problem are races, which I tend to avoid by going further out to sea or by passing through the race area at slack tide. It also depends on how the boat is being manoevred. For example, facing the boat into or away from the waves reduces the likelihood of capize.

Optimist dinghies have fun going through the Fiddlers race in the west end of the Solent. I went through this race in the dark in 2016 on my way round the Isle of Wight, but in very calm weather.

There is also the issue of  the particular boat. Each has it's own right moment, the degree to which the boat will resist being turned over. The resistance tends to increases as a monohull heals, reaching a critical point when it starts to decrease and then the boat will more likely turn turtle. Many boats have their righting moment function plotted, as shown figuratively below.

Stability shown figuratively according to angle of heel (artwork by Andrew Simpson)

Since PicoMicroYacht has no weighted keel, it is more likely to flip over, with less upright stability. Also if capsized, the crew has to right it, as with most dinghies. However, as I have posted before, the PicoMicroYacht has the advantage in this situation of being rapidly self draining and easy to get back in, with very low top sides. The daggerboard is kept down whilst at sea and can then be used lever the boat upright.

Part 1

Part 2

A Pico being righted using the daggerplate; Part 1 and 2 
 (Part 2 shows how to get back on board without falling in the water again)

Why now not to cross the English Channel in PicoMicroYacht

When I crossed the English Channel in 2012, I did so with a support boat. This boat had a professional crew and was well equipped with radar, spending the whole voyage on look out, ready to act if necessary. The English Channel around Calais and Dover is potentially a very dangerous place, with about 400 ships a day passing at speed up and a comparatively small stretch of water. The weather can change very rapidly, increasing the associated risks.

Migrants in a dinghy near Calais in August 2018

Halfway across, I passed through two standing waves, created by the huge container ships that plough up and down relentlessly. I was swamped by these waves, but PicoMicroYacht is quickly self-draining,  so I was able to carry on. I also ran into unexpected fog and my safety depended on the radar system of my support boat.



In recent years, more and more people have been trying to cross the Channel in small boats, unsupported. This is extremely dangerous and, if it continues, will likely end in tragedy.

Sadly the law has  had to change and even supported boats were not allowed to cross  from 2013 onwards, for very good reasons. PicoMicroYacht was likely the last single person rowing boat to cross the English Channel.